dr-exmedic.com

It’s interesting to see some of the thought processes that go into anything.  What triggered this was voting in an online poll for the top 20 developments in EMS.  The fact that EMS Magazine is having us vote on the subject isn’t interesting; I’m having fun seeing what was suggested by the editorial advisory board.  Some are pretty much no-brainers:  the 1966 publication of the White Paper, the development of trauma centers, the aftermath of 9/11, the show Emergency!  (Personal confession:  when working with standardized patients, I generally introduce myself as working with Dr. Brackett.  And I am totally excited to discover that I can watch episodes for free.)

However, some of the suggestions are unusual, to say the least:  “Infectious disease training to wear gloves,” vehicle electrical systems, the Hep B vaccine, modern EMS stretchers, OSHA bloodborne pathogens rules, and (my particular favorite, since I’m about where Dr. Bryan Bledsoe is with helicopters) “The end of the battle between flight nurse organizations that paved the way for more life flights after the early 1980s.”

Probably the only one that’s truly laughable, however, is “Public Awareness of EMS as a profession.”  In a world where TV news anchors regularly refer to “police, fire, and other emergency responders,” I’m not quite sure that’s an advance that has actually happened.  Kind of sad, really.

Filed under: EMS